ABOUT
THE AUTHOR-US citizen living and working in the capital of Colombia, South America. Teaches EFL and IELTS, and TOEFL (any test prep). Proofreads English essays, theses, and books, etc. Private classes accepted. Also writes at abctales.com; microhorror.com; postcardshorts.com; authorsden.com. Contact: www.officeteachr.com[May 2010]

Law: The purpose...is to prevent the strong always having their way. Ovid

Law: Expression of the opinion of some class which has power over the rest. T.B. MaCaulay

This is my version of an "article" or "essay" although there are people who would disagree that it is one or the other. It really is not important. I do not like LONG essays/articles, so, plan never to write one. I do not like long poems either. I think people do not really read them even though some of the longer ones win prizes or "attention" of different sorts. For example, who really reads Byron's "Don Juan" these days, or some of Tennyson's? Does anyone truly pick up one of Faulkner's novels and read it for sheer pleasure? I have my doubts. Why policing? What do I know about policing? That is a good question. (I've been policed by my dear wife for 30-odd years. Does that count?) And worse, I am not nor have ever been a law enforcement officer, etc.
I am not sure why I want to write about policing but it has been on my mind for some time, maybe more than a year. I think I can say that policing is not a process that is very easy. Of course, what in the world IS easy? I have lived twenty years abroad now and have seen situations in which the complications of policing reveal themselves. In many so-called developing countries, it is difficult to police due to a lack of enough funds to hire enough police officers. One result of this lack of funds is that the laws exist on the books and are clear but they are broken repeatedly and nothing happens. No one gets caught or punished, we might say. Corruption is often rife in these developing countries and part of the reason is the same: a lack of funds. This situation can not be corrected until, for some reason--through "development" perhaps--the funds become available. But not all is funding. There are cultural influences, especially societal changes that have taken place.
Where am I going? What do I want to say? Well, I want to say that over the past 3 or 4 years I have been able to visit at home(the USA) each summer and have been grateful. But I have seen things that I guess I had forgotten. For instance, rampant/flagrant speeding on the nice highways we have. The speed limit says 70 and people are driving 90 and 95. No one is batting an eye or they sail along fresh as you please--is that the cliche? I do not like it because first, it represents a terrible, inexcusable waste of gasoline. Can we AFFORD that in this country? Do we not learn our lessons? If not, why not? Second, I think there are not enough police officers to counteract the situation. If there are, where are they? I do not like to see signs of a deterioration in our society but sometimes I really see those signs. Of course, they are not new. I know they have existed since the beginning of humankind. But just the same, they exist. Why can we not have a better country even if we are already one of the best in so many ways(but not every single way)? Why can not every one in this country love it and exhibit care for it? (I am not one of those "love it or leave it" individuals and I hate that phrase.) Our country is truly special and is a rarity among countries. Fellow citizens who have never traveled abroad(not to mention lived abroad) just really do not know how GREAT the USA has always been and continues to be. Those untraveled citizens take so much for granted. They should not, of course. Some of us learned that lesson on 9-11. A precious few already knew that. But getting back to policing. We nor any other nation can not have a police officer to witness every single wrong thing that is done by some citizen. We can not have a police officer on every single corner of this country's streets, etc. But one thing we CAN do collectively is this: We can all be "police officers" of sorts. We can all help to take care of and preserve this great country blessed by God. A thing of beauty, I, Barfield, one of your favorite writers( :-)), see every single week of the year is the long, daily line of visa applicants at one of our embassies in South America. Even though we have made and continue to make considerable foreign policy errors, there is still the beauty of those early a.m. lines filled with applicants who want to come to our county to better their lives, to visit it and spend some money, to visit and see relatives, who, perhaps, are too content to want to return to live in their country of birth. This long line to which I refer occurs daily, as I mentioned, and is one line in only one big city in this world. There are many, many big cities and other lines I do not see every week. How about that? Does it not make you proud as a U.S. citizen? Does it not tell you that we certainly do SOME things, if not a lot of things, right? I want to see the lines! Show me the lines! Lines lines lines lines! By this I mean physical evidence, do I not? Here in South America there is much talk about this or that totalitarian(in my little eyes) country/state that is a good model or that has these or those advantages. But the talkers--NOT ONE of them goes to live in one of those states on a permanent basis. I suspect none of them is sending a portion of their salaries to someone in one of those republics. But they talk and talk and talk and try to convince(and do some convincing, of course) their listeners of those "advantages" that I mention. I will not, but at this moment I can easily name 10 or 15 of those countries/states I am referring to. But they are states that are lineless--queueless, for you English. NO ONE is standing in line trying to get in! At least to stay, that is. Maybe they will take a short vacation there. Hence, I can say I am proud to belong to my country. I can say that even though I am far from being the perfect citizen, I am also far from being one of its worst. Also, I'd like to see people from whatever country being proud of their country of birth--regardless of its level of "accomplishments". I'd like to see those citizens working toward making their own country better even though they know, just as everyone else, that it's never an overnight project. Quite the contrary. I guess my point has been made. If you have read this far, thanks a million and good luck(along with peace and love).

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